# The Environment



## Shiny Grimer (Jan 16, 2010)

I'm doing a project for school concerning the environment. I thought it would be interesting to get a worldwide perspective on the environment and how important it is, and the first thing that came to mind was TCoD. :p If you guys could help me with this survey, I'd really appreciate it~ Plus, it's bound to start some discussion.

If you don't already have your location listed in your profile, please list it here. If you can be specific, please be so, but you can make do by mentioning which country you live in. If you happen to have any articles or photos or whatever about the damage that may be happening, feel free to show them!

*1. Do you think that caring about the environment in general is important? *This includes environments beyond "nature"; that is, it includes cities and towns and such.

*2. Is there any environmental damage going on where you live? What is it?*

*3. Is anything being done to stop the aforementioned environmental damage?*

*4. Does the environmental damage affect you? How does it affect you directly? Indirectly?*

*5. Are you doing anything to stop this environmental damage? Is your government (local, national, whatever) doing anything to stop this damage? Have any advances been made in stopping or reversing the environmental damage?*

*6. Do you have any comments about environmental damage anywhere?*

Many many thanks in advance to everyone that responds. :D You guys rock~


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## departuresong (Jan 16, 2010)

I live near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

*1. Do you think that caring about the environment in general is important?*
It is _so_ important. Anybody who is complacent and/or isn't actively trying to reduce the stress we cause on the environment is selfish.

*2. Is there any environmental damage going on where you live? What is it?*
St. Paul/Minneapolis, the largest metropolitan area here, is relatively clean compared to other areas of the same size and population; Minneapolis is notorious for its tree-hugging hippies (represent!), but there is of course the decline in air quality that most big US cities are cursed with. Overall, though, my area is pretty progressive in this regard. Don't get me wrong; it's still a city and it's still pretty dirty, but it's not awful.

*3. Is anything being done to stop the aforementioned environmental damage?*
Nothing specific that I can think of, but there are a number of programs and laws put into place to protect the environment. That much I do know.

*4. Does the environmental damage affect you? How does it affect you directly? Indirectly?*
It affects me as a human being. It affects me as someone with an adoration for nature and animals. It affects me as an inhabitant of the planet. Anyone who answers "no" to this question is an idiot. Period. As I mentioned before, air quality is really beginning to suck here, we've had some of the most extreme weather conditions we've ever had (including a record-breaking three-foot blizzard a few weeks ago), though the waning environment may have a smaller role in that than I'm led to believe. Still, it's pretty easy to look at cities like Beijing and just think, "What the _hell_?"

*5. Are you doing anything to stop this environmental damage? Is your government (local, national, whatever) doing anything to stop this damage? Have any advances been made in stopping or reversing the environmental damage?*
The second part of this question is pretty redundant after question number three, so I'll skip it.

I'm personally doing quite a few things to reduce my environmental impact: I no longer drive/ride to school in a car (instead I go on the bus), I don't eat meat, I reduce the amount of paper towels I use, I shorten my time in the shower, and I don't drink as many bottled beverages, to name a few. Baby steps.

*6. Do you have any comments about environmental damage anywhere?*
It (environmental damage) needs to be stopped, and it bugs me that so few people are proactive about it.


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## Tailsy (Jan 16, 2010)

1. *Do you think that caring about the environment in general is important?*
Well, obviously. 

2. *Is there any environmental damage going on where you live? What is it?*
Eh, well, we have a couple of factories chugging out piles of rather fabulously grey smoke... and due to it actually snowing in the UK during December I'm getting the feeling that it's starting to effect us. Somehow, you know.

3. *Is anything being done to stop the aforementioned environmental damage?*
Of course. Scotland has the largest offshore wind farm in the world, you know. We have several wind farms in the Highlands and the government are trying to get more built. It's a big step from the coal-fuelled industrial cities we used to have (UNTIL THATCHER WAS LIKE 'LOL' AND SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN that bint). In my council area we have at least three different recycling bins for paper, cardboard, cans and bottles and anything with that funny triangle label on them. And we're getting two more, apparently, though I forget what they're supposed to be for.

4. *Does the environmental damage affect you? How does it affect you directly? Indirectly?*
Stupid question. Obviously -> I AM BREATHING IN POLLUTION -> OTHER PEOPLE ARE BREATHING IN POLLUTION WHICH I DON'T IMAGINE IS A GREAT IDEA

5. *Are you doing anything to stop this environmental damage? Is your government (local, national, whatever) doing anything to stop this damage? Have any advances been made in stopping or reversing the environmental damage?*
Didn't I just answer most of this question? And adurr. I recycle what feels like 75% of everything that comes into my bloody house. 

6. *Do you have any comments about environmental damage anywhere?*
Did you know that if the UK's emissions suddenly stopped entirely, that the US and China would make up for it within a week?


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## Dannichu (Jan 17, 2010)

I'm doing this for Devon in the UK; it's a relatively rural county, but relies fairly heavily on tourism for income.

*1. Do you think that caring about the environment in general is important? This includes environments beyond "nature"; that is, it includes cities and towns and such.*

Massively. Even those who don't believe global warming is happening (fun fact: 65-70% of the general population think global warming is a serious issue; 95-99% of scientists think it is.) should still sit up and pay attention because regardless of whether or not our current use of fossil fuels and refusal to change lifestyles is actively changing the climate, it's obvious that the planet cannot sustain such lifestyles and change to help the environment (better recycling, more renewable energy sources, etc.), is needed.

*2. Is there any environmental damage going on where you live? What is it?*

Not that I've noticed. The roads get clogged up in the summer with the annual invasion of tourists, and a few fields have been turned into housing estates or giant supermarkets, but that's about it.

*3. Is anything being done to stop the aforementioned environmental damage?*

Not really, though I heard somewhere that Tesco (the biggest supermarket chain in the UK) is forbidden from building any more stores, which is fairly awesome news.
(also, see my answer to Q5)

*4. Does the environmental damage affect you? How does it affect you directly? Indirectly?*

I'm asthmatic, so car fumes irritate my lungs, but that's about it. 

*5. Are you doing anything to stop this environmental damage? Is your government (local, national, whatever) doing anything to stop this damage? Have any advances been made in stopping or reversing the environmental damage?*

I try and do what I can in regards to environmental issues; I'm a vegetarian and do my best to buy local (or at least British-grown) food. I do a lot of awareness-raising stuff at uni; recently I went to "The Wave"; a massive protest march through London before the Copenhagen meeting, and one of the societies I'm part of convinced the Student Union to take recycling more seriously, so now most lecture halls/seminar rooms have a bin for paper to go to recycling. 
Back in Devon I've gotten involved with a few things to push environmental issues to the forefront of the local government's agenda, including petitioning for more wind farms. The most annoying thing about this is that so many local people have what we call “Not In My Back Yard”-syndrome, where they’re happy if planet-saving initiatives happen, as long as they personally aren’t inconvenienced in any way, and this mostly takes the form of people vehemently opposing wind farms because they “ruin the view”.
However my local council (in Devon) is really quite good in regards to helping people recycle; Devon as a county recycles over 50% of its household waste, with collections for paper, glass, plastic, biodegradable waste as well as the remaining rubbish to go to landfill. 
However, we're next to another council judiciary, Torbay, and they only recycle 20% of their waste, and I think that's partly to do with the council not providing facilities that allow people to recycle easily, as in Devon, but also because people in Torbay tend to be both poorer (recycling is a distinctly middle-class thing to do) and less educated (the more educated you are, the more likely you are to care about climate change/environment issues). The bus services are absolutely appalling, and the trains are decent, but massively expensive, providing people who can drive absolutely no incentive to switch to public transport.

*6. Do you have any comments about environmental damage anywhere?*

Thing is, we don’t feel the effects of the environmental damage we create. For one thing, such damage is mostly on a 20-year time lag, so we won’t be feeling the true environmental effects for what we’re doing right now for a while, and secondly, the pollutants and waste we create almost always become someone else’s problem – acid rain created by the UK has affected the Black Forest in Germany, and much of our waste is shipped over to China to fill landfills over there. 
Speaking of China, it’s all very well for us to criticise them for making horrific amounts of greenhouse gases/consuming so many unclean and unrenewable sources of fuel, but we so often forget that they make just about every single product we buy. I don’t know how much of China’s energy is spent on making things for rich Western countries, but I bet it’s astronomical, so we’re just as to blame, if not moreso, than they are.

I went on a bit there, didn't I? Hope that was vaguely helpful, anyways. :3


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## Shiny Grimer (Jan 18, 2010)

Tailsy said:


> 1. *Do you think that caring about the environment in general is important?*
> Well, obviously.


You'd be surprised how many people I've interviewed that have said "No". They were all English... I wonder if this means anything? :o



Dannichu said:


> I went on a bit there, didn't I? Hope that was vaguely helpful, anyways. :3


You were helpful, thank you. :D

I'd like to thank everyone that responded. If anyone else has something to say (or just wants to respond), please do so!

Anyway, I've noted from the responses I've gotten that recycling is not as common as I thoght it was. Where I live (Florida), there is a huge recycling program.


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## Tarvos (Jan 18, 2010)

... said:


> I'm doing a project for school concerning the environment. I thought it would be interesting to get a worldwide perspective on the environment and how important it is, and the first thing that came to mind was TCoD. :p If you guys could help me with this survey, I'd really appreciate it~ Plus, it's bound to start some discussion.
> 
> If you don't already have your location listed in your profile, please list it here. If you can be specific, please be so, but you can make do by mentioning which country you live in. If you happen to have any articles or photos or whatever about the damage that may be happening, feel free to show them!
> 
> ...


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